2025 Inaugural Cohort Members

NINA KI (xe/she/they) is a Queerean (Queer+Korean) American playwright living in Brooklyn. Xe graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2008 with a BFA in Dramatic Writing, and xer plays have been read, recorded, and produced nationwide, including with Theatre Rhinoceros, Moxie Arts NY, Clubbed Thumb, Ma-Yi Theater Company, MCC Theater, The Parsnip Ship, Yale Summer Cabaret, and Queens Theater. Xer play “Moon Bear” was given special consideration for the Relentless Award, and xer play “Ravage” was a finalist for the Playwrights Realm’s Fellowship. Xe was also an inaugural member of The Parsnip Ship’s Radio Roots Writer’s Group, and a member of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writer’s Group, and is currently a member of the Public Theater's EWG, Orchard Project's Greenhouse Lab, and Ma-Yi's Writers Lab.

www.nina-ki.com @ni_eu_ki

CHRIS YEJIN (she/her) is a first-generation Korean American director and writer working across theater and film. Deeply shaped by both Korean and American cultures, she channels her lived experience into storytelling that bridges identities and perspectives. Calling herself a storyteller above all, Chris chooses the medium that best serves each narrative, whether on stage or screen. She believes storytelling is not just entertainment but a vital form of connection, healing, and preservation of history. Her directing credits include Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?), The King's Language, I Do for You (musical), Your Final Moment, Three Girls, Their Dreams, The War (world premiere), Medea The Woman, Ahn’s Three Daughters, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her writing credits include Belong (screenplay), The King's Language, Three Girls, Their Dreams, and The War. She is passionate about elevating underrepresented voices and creating space for stories often left unheard. Chris works between Los Angeles, New York City, and Korea.

www.chrisyejin.com @chrisyejin

SEAYOUNG YIM Seayoung (SHEE-young) Yim is an NYC-based writer and educator originally from Seattle. She is the winner of the Dramatist Guild’s Lanford Wilson Award, Yale Drama Series Prize, and People’s Choice Award for Outstanding New Play at The Gregory Awards. She was selected for the Kilroys Web, a finalist for the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award, second place for the Kennedy Center’s ACTF Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award, and a semi-finalist for The Relentless Award. She is currently a resident with Colt Coeur and a member of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writers Group. She has received the Sewanee Writers’ Conference Playwriting Fellowship, a Hedgebrook residency, and the Stephen Sondheim Graduate Fellowship in Theater Arts. Seayoung's commissions include the Powers Playwriting Fellowship at the Old Globe, the Woolly Mammoth x Black List Playwriting Commission, and a commission with The Public Theater + CTG. Her plays Persimmon Nights and Do It For Umma enjoyed sold-out runs in Seattle. Seayoung has worked with Ma-Yi Writers Lab, Theatre Battery, The Brown Arts Initiative, UW School of Drama, SIS Productions, and Pork Filled Productions. She taught Playwriting and Screenwriting at Brown University and Playwriting at RISD.

www.seayoungyim.com @seayoungwrites

JEENA YI Jeena is a Korean American Actor and Playwright, born and raised in LA but now calls NYC home. She loves to explore the intricacies of human life through acting on stage and screen or letting her imagination run wild with the worlds and people she dreams up in her writing. Her play Jesa was a Eugene O'Neil Semi Finalist and will make its off-broadway premiere in spring 2026.